Senate Debates Gender-Selection Abortion Bill

The Kansas Senate is taking up a bill that would prohibit doctors from terminating a pregnancy solely because a woman doesn’t want a baby of a certain gender.

Senators are scheduled to debate the measure Tuesday afternoon.

The bill would make it a misdemeanor the first time a doctor is convicted of performing a sex-selection abortion and a felony each time afterward. A woman’s husband could sue a doctor over such a procedure, as could a parent or guardian of a girl under 18 who had one.

The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee endorsed it last week.

Meanwhile, a House committee plans to have a hearing Wednesday on a bill designed to prevent the state from subsidizing abortions even indirectly through tax exemptions or credits.